Art Ability at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital will be participating as a host gallery stop along the tour route for the annual Chester County Open Studio Tour! Guests are invited to view and purchase works by four local “pop-up studio” artists, as well as shop our Art Ability consignment collection. We will be featuring artists Linda Killingsworth, Emily McGuigan, Kathryn Noska and Meg Quinlisk. Collection tours are also available.

There are 143 artists and 63 studios participating on the tour this year. We have partnered with businesses and other supporters of the arts in the community to offer a variety of ways to see and collect art.

It is not an exclusive club and there are no membership fees or dues. Just come out and enjoy our one weekend of open studios.

Plan your day and get out early to ensure you have art on your walls by Monday!

As an exhibition without any apparent central subject matter, InvisAbility is a break from City Hall’s standard juried thematic showcases. However, it does follow a trend of recent exhibits aimed at raising awareness of Philadelphia’s diverse and talented cultural community. InvisAbility affirms the notion that within the People’s Building, the people behind the art, their stories and concerns matter as much as the art they create. By weaving art with identity, the show aims to provide some insight into the creative experience of artists living with a disability, and perhaps even challenge traditional notions of quality.

Artist Nancy Alter:

“My current work reflects personal physiological struggles in the day to day struggles with my MS symptoms. Through the deconstruction and reconstruction of monotype prints, there is great satisfaction on how unrelated pieces fit together to make a whole. It is an expression of push and pull and the physiological rhythm of the body.”

Artist DoN Brewer:

“Living with Crohn’s disease has both positive and negative effects of my artwork. On the one hand, I stay home on the computer a lot and have created an on-line persona that reaches a wide audience. On the other hand, sometimes I don’t feel well enough to travel to art shows and events, to attend art workshops or even to write my art blog. My fans don’t know me as a disabled person; they support me for who I am, as an artist.”

David Gerbstadt, Artist Shopping for a New Art Gallery

Artist and author David Gerbstadt of Berwyn, Pennsylvania is shopping for a new art gallery to handle his artwork as a stable artist. David has been in galleries, solo, and group shows worldwide since 1993. Now in over 15 countries and most of the United States.

“My vocabulary is full of creatures – both real and imagined.I often incorporate words phrases and doodles into my paintings.I recycle materials found on the street that become part of and inspire my work.

“After my near death experience on December, 28 2007 my life changed.My hospital chart read, man on bicycle vs. 14 wheeled tracker trailer truck.The doctor’s told me they don’t know why I am here but I am. I believe I was spared to continue to make art, make people happy, and to let people know they are loved.Since then life has been a consent struggle.I get through the day with my doctors, art, friends, and my three legged rescue dog Noel.”

“Brian Dickerson is an artist who knows how to wander, and how to make his way through uncertainty. Seeing the stone cairns of rural Ireland, he recognized them for what they were: mediators of mysterious places, markers for the lost, messages from the past. In Cairns, his new series of constructed paintings, he brings this understanding into a new form.” –Miriam Seidel

“Art Ability at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital is a year-long program which serves as a showcase for, and celebration of, artists with disabilities. Through art, we hope to inspire patients to reach beyond their limitations, and to encourage people with disabilities to explore their own creativity.

Established in 1996, Art Ability includes the following major components: an annual international juried exhibition and sale of art and fine crafts produced by individuals with disabilities; community outreach and education opportunities including satellite exhibitions and interactive demo days; our permanent collection of artwork and the incorporation of artwork into the patient experience; and a corporate art acquisition program.

The Program’s goal is to foster a better appreciation of people with disabilities through the achievements and stories of our artists. As art enriches their lives, we hope their creativity, talent and exuberant spirit will enrich your life.” – Art Ability

“Max Tzinman was born in Romania and lived in Israel and Canada, immersing himself in a multitude of cultures that influenced his artistic/philosophical concepts. Born with a severe hearing impairment, photography has allowed Tzinman to consistently tell his story in a continuously moving world. Tzinman merges painting, photography, collage and assemblage, to produce a series of deep and mysterious images. Max Tzinman’s works often show the isolation and invisibility he felt of his early childhood experience dealing with his impairment.” – Art Ability

MentalHelp.net was originally built by content from Mark Dombeck, Ph.D. and Allan Schwart, Ph.D, clinical psychologists who aggregated countless studies, clinical best practices and research outcomes into an accessible resource for both professionals and individuals seeking help for mental health and substance abuse problems. They have personally written more than 1,500 responses to questions posed by users in the advice column. After the site’s launch in 1999, it quickly turned into a leading authority on behavorial health and has since received more than 40 million visits and a number of notable awards.

To further our mission of helping individuals with substance abuse problems, we have recently launched this comprehensive national directory of inpatient treatment options. In addition to this, we offer treatment advisors to help navigate the process. It has been a monumental undertaking to collect and verify all inpatient programs whether or not they have an online prescense. Scrolling down our page, you will find how extensive the listings we have gathered are. We believe that the end result provides the best Pennsylvania treatment compilation on the web.

I hope that you will consider this addition to your page – and thank you so much for your time. If you have the chance, please let me know what we need to do to be included as a resource. If you are not responsible for modifications to this page, I would greatly appreciate it if you could point me in the right direction.

I am very proud to have three artworks included in the 20th Annual Art Ability Art Exhibition and Sale, Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital. The last time I was included in Art Ability my work was selected to be in group art shows at the Delaware Art Museum, The Philadelphia Foundation and pop up shows at rehab facilities. The exposure, the care, the intention is all about promoting art by artists living with physical challenges. Whenever I think about being part of Art Ability I remember my friend Arnie Segal, a successful sculptor. Arnie introduced me to the benefits of participating in the expansive art exhibition dedicated to art by disabled artists. I’ll post a story about my art in Art Ability on DoNArTNeWs. – DoN